Veritaserum
by vintageweasley
Summary: Draco watched everyone clamber around the girl in the middle of the floor, like she wasn't there and he could only watch with horror."Draco w-what the h-hell?" Blaise asked weakly, but he followed Draco's troubled gaze to the witch on the ground."Everyone's going to leave her here." He could only mutter, his eyes watering against the toxic fumes and his lungs screaming in protest.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys! Those of you who are reading "Solitude", you are probably grumbling about how I should be fixing that one and completing it. Well, tough shit. Ahahaha I had this idea pop in to my head and I wanted to see where it would take me. Now, I know it's a bit like the fanfiction "Linked" which I lovelovelove, but in my story the plot line is different. Now, I'll write a summary at the beginning of this chapter, and no for any of the other ones. If I get any negative feedback saying,"SOME1 ALREADY HAD THIS IDEA!23" I will promptly ignore it. My story is different, end of story.**

_Summary_: One Potions class, Neville creates a catastrophe and Draco Malfoy and Hermione are left in the destruction. They had been creating a Veritaserum in that class, and Draco's perfect potion spills all over him and Hermione Granger. Later throughout the hectic year and when Draco can hear Hermione's dark secrets and vice versa, they realize that if Veritaserum is absorbed through the skin, the side effects reveal that these secret confessions won't be stopping anytime soon. Can Draco and Hermione escape the truth?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, all rights reserved to J.K Rowling, I only own the plot of this story.

Draco Malfoy was a bad person, really.

He practiced his family values and beliefs regularly. In fact, there was hardly a day you _wouldn't_ hear him calling someone a mudblood, or flaunting his wealth like some sort of ostentatious vulture that preyed on weak humans. Of course, he preferred the ones that were already dead; rotting corpses. Yes, he loved to prey on Hermione Granger. One glance at her, and he saw nothing. She was a shell casing with empty innards and lonely thoughts that were left in her body to make sure she still functioned.

Sometimes he would even watch her. She was a machine that shot out excuses at random. After a while, they all started sounding the same. "I've got to go to library, study for OWLs." or, "I've got to ask McGonagall about the latest Transfiguration essay." Pothead and Weasel would only nod, and forget about her. She would leave. The deadly routine was intact and Draco Malfoy could only stare.

In Potions, he watched her stir her cauldron slowly with a glazed over expression, and he couldn't help but wonder if she was Imperiused, following some sort of deathly cycle that would somehow make her wind up all alone. As soon as the curse was lifted she would realize what had happened and it would kill her. _Being alone can feel worse than dying. _Draco concluded, and he went back to his potion.

"Mr. Malfoy." Professor Slughorn called out, and Draco resisted every urge in his body to throw the scalding potion at the bumbling buffoon.

"Yes, Professor?" He gritted in between his teeth, and Professor Slughorn smiled nervously.

"Your potion, Mr. Malfoy. You brewed a perfect potion. I would like to show it to the class." Draco blinked at the man a couple times, surprised by the wave of pride that surged through him. Draco nodded feebly at the man and Professor Slughorn pocketed a vial.

"This students, is a very hard potion to make, and Draco Malfoy was the only one in the entire class who brewed a perfect one. Let's give him a round of applause." Blaise thumped him hard on the back next to him and whispered something snarky that made Draco smirk.

"Look at Granger." He whispered, and Draco did just that to see the blank look on her face had resided. One of fury and disappointment had crawled its way on to her face, and she was clenching her fists to keep from hurling them at his face. Draco's smirk widened.

"Shall we test this veritaserum?" Professor Slughorn looked pointedly at him, but Draco shook his head. Sometimes the truth is not so good, and he preferred he didn't hear it. Professor clonked over to Ron Weasley, and the boy's face blushed crimson as he took the potion and swigged a bit of it.

"Tell us a fact about yourself." Professor offered, and before Ron could contain it, he started speaking.

"I love Lavender Brown." The room was completely silent, and Blaise Zabini stumbled next to him, and Draco absently caught his forearm. They both chanced a look at Hermione Granger to see her face was contorted in to one of heartbreak and pain, but it only lasted a fleeting second. She was back to a rotting carcass in mere seconds. Everyone's attention soon turned to a giggling and squealing girl who had thrown her arms around Ron Weasley's neck and was currently kissing the life out of him.

"That will be enough, Miss Brown." Professor Slughorn muttered, and she merely pulled her lips away from him and shimmied herself in between Ron and Harry, who was staring dumbfounded at the new couple.

"Even Granger is better than that priss." Blaise Zabini mumbled, and Draco raised an eyebrow; he would have to agree. But being Draco Malfoy, that wasn't happening.

"Wow Blaise, your insults have been improving by the day." He replied sarcastically and Blaise shrugged.

"Joke all you want. But I'm righ-"

"GET DOWN!" Neville Longbottom shrilly shouted, and everyone ducked. Knowing Neville and his chemistry with potions, he was overdue for an explosion. Draco heard a loud boom, and someone clatter on top of him. The table wiggled, and Draco's potion clattered off of it and on to him and the person who was currently on top of him. His skin began to burn and itch and he wanted to rip all of it off.

"Geroff me, Blaise!" He shouted, but Blaise was poking him from behind, trying to pull him up through the smoke. Draco looked down to the person on top of him, but he couldn't figure out who it was. Coughing and spluttering, he managed to make out a mass of brown curls, and his heart clonked to the bottom of his stomach. He pushed the girl off of him, and Blaise was finally able to pull him up and start to drag him out of the room. Draco watched everyone clamber around the girl in the middle of the floor, like she wasn't there and he could only watch with horror.

"Draco, w-what the h-hell?" Blaise asked weakly, but he followed Draco's troubled gaze to the witch on the ground.

"Everyone's going to leave her here." He could only mutter, his eyes watering against the toxic fumes and his lungs screaming in protest.

"Bloody hell. Come on, let's pick her up and drag her out of here." Blaise proposed, grabbing one of her arms and wrapping it around his shoulders. Draco took the other arm hesitantly and they stumbled around the classroom, feeling around for the exit. They felt a flaming hot handle of the door, and Draco hissed in pain, before pulling his sweater down over his hands and twisting the doorknob until they had reached the outside.

"You mean to tell me there are still children trapped in there? They could be dying! Unconscious-" Headmistress McGonagall's voice faltered as she watched the three students stumble out of the room weakly, voices hoarse from coughing their lungs out. One was unconscious.

"Mr. Malfoy? Mr. Zabini?" she asked incredulously and all the students lined along the walls craned their necks to see what was going on. Ron Weasley's face went beet red.

"Get off of her!" He barked, and Zabini managed a weak roll of his eyes.

"We weren't the o-ones who l-left h-her t-t-" He couldn't finish his sentence and he collapsed to the ground in a fit of coughs, and he managed to spit up blood. Draco was now holding all of the dead weight of Hermione Granger, and he knelt to the ground, laying her out.

"_Levicorpus_." He muttered and she rose in to the air, like she was lying on some sort of invisible bed. Draco clutched his rib cage and wheezed weakly, staring at the levitating body of Hermione Granger. He watched her chest rise and fall with difficulty and it almost seemed to calm him. Knowing he had the ability to save someone, to be able to make good decisions.

"_Failure." _He heard his father's voice echo in his ear, and he disagreed. _Not this time... not this time._

_I've got no one. No one will save me this time, and I'm not surprised. _Draco Malfoy jumped at the foreign voice in his head, and his lungs scolded him for his sudden movements.

"Hospital W-Wing?" He could only voice, the rims of his eyes going black, and his vision getting blurry. He looked through the tunnel to see himself being lifted in to the air, and down the hallway. He hoped his prayers were answered, and he hoped the voice in his head wasn't who he thought it was.

Certainly not. Certainly not Hermione Granger.

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Draco woke to a painful throbbing in his ribs, and he weakly tried to sit up.

"Not so fast, Mr. Malfoy. You've got Carbon Monoxide poisoning from breathing in too much smoke. You're lucky you got here in time." She put a vial on the table top next to him, and he looked at her expectantly.

"Pain-relief potion. I'm afraid since the fire was caused by a potion, you'll just have to wait until the damage goes away. Also, you had a nasty burn on your hand; the scarring will not go away. Same reason as the former. I'll be checking on you soon, Mr. Malfoy." The medi-witch looked across the room the girl who still lay unconscious on the bed sheets.

" Headmistress told me what you did for her. She probably would have died if you boys didn't help her." She raised her eyebrows pointedly, like she expected Draco to be affected by her words. He merely turned away and gulped down the disgusting potion, willing the pain to subside. The medi-witch sighed and toddled away. Draco whipped his head around to Blaise, who was busy flipping through his potions book.

"Did you hear that, Blaise?" Draco hissed, and Blaise raised an eyebrow, urging him on. "We saved her _life_. We have some sort of hero complex now." Blaise couldn't help but laugh.

"You're a bloody twat; we could never have a hero complex." Blaise put his head back and winced as he tried to shimmy down in to a comfortable position. "Although, I wouldn't be surprised if she came over and thanked us." Draco grimaced at the thought, and shook his head.

"I doubt it. Have you seen her lately? She's like one of those muggle robots." Blaise grumbled and answer and sighed in pain. Draco was in a fair amount of pain too, his pain relieving potion could only take away so much. Draco closed his eyes and stared at the empty darkness of his eyelids, would his mother be told of this accident? He supposed so. It's not every day you get stuck in the hospital wing, and for a fairly long time. _How long does it take to get rid of Carbon Monoxide poisoning?_ Draco thought, but his thoughts drifted away when he heard yelling from outside the door.

"You're going to let her in, but not us? We are her _best friends!"_

"Only immediate family, Mr. Weasley." He heard Headmistress' voice drone from outside the door, and the door creaked open.

"Oh, my boys." He heard the familiar voice of his mother sweep across the room. He felt a warm hand on his cheek, and he cracked one eye open to see his mother standing over him with a worried look.

"Hey mum." Draco heard Blaise say, and he rolled his eyes. Over the years his mother had grown to care for Blaise like another one of her children, and he gladly accepted her coddling. His own mother was often out of the country, searching for rich wizards to court.

"Oh Blaise, look at you. Poor thing." She clucked her tongue and ran a hand through his hair, while Blaise nodded dramatically.

"I even burnt my arm. It'll scar." He said solemnly and Draco snorted. His mother raised an eyebrow mischievously and squeezed his cheeks.

"Is ickle Drake jealous his mummy is talking to Blaisy?" Draco scowled and Blaise laughed as loudly as a person can with Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Sitting on the chair in between the two beds she crossed her legs and glanced at them both.

"Madame Pomfrey told me you guys only have to stay here for a few more hours, until the oxygen is back in your lungs." She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "I also heard that you were saving some _girl_? Why the hell would you put your lives at risk like that?" She asked, and both Draco and Blaise scratched the back of their heads nervously.

"Her friends just left her-"

"We couldn't just leave her there." Draco and Blaise said at the same time, both unable to explain why they saved her. It had been hard to watch in the first place, but to have her _thoughts _lingering around in your head was bloody freaky. Draco clamped his mouth shut.

"Well I just had to make sure you boys were okay. I'll be seeing you both for Christmas?" She asked and both boys nodded. Patting each of their hands she floated out of the room, and out of Hogwarts. Draco groaned and clutched his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I've got a headache now, bloody hell." He grumbled, and Blaise grunted, opening his potion book again.

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Hermione woke up, and she wondered why. It seemed like just minutes ago she felt herself dying, and now she was awake, sitting up in a hospital bed having some revolting liquid being shoved down her throat. Thinking hard back to the events that had happened merely an hour ago, she felt her stomach churn and bile rise in her throat. _Lavender Brown? Why her? Why? _She knew she had been detached lately, and she wouldn't dare tell anyone why, but she thought her friends and her now ex-boyfriend would understand. They should have. After seven years of life together she would have at the least expected someone to pick up on her _pain_. She thought back to the end of the war, and all the cheering. She remembered kissing Ron, she remembered leaving that night, to the Australian Ministry, ready to take her parents' home. She remembered how he whispered his consolations on her parents deaths, how they had died in a tragic death eater raid. She remembered everything, and her friends couldn't even manage to remember her existence. Salty tears threatened to escape, and she hissed at the pain it brought.

Closing her eyes, she wondered who had saved her life. Certainly not Harry or Ronald, they had probably forgotten about her. Then who? Who would save her.

Looking across the Hospital wing, she saw none other than Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini bickering over some sort of Transfiguration theory.

_They saved me_? This time she couldn't keep the bile down, and she wretched over in to a waste bin, puking up blood, and moaning as the painful tears finally spilled from her eyes. Placing the palms over her eye sockets and rubbing her burning eyes, she couldn't keep down the strangled cries that spewed from her mouth.

"It's alright dear, let it all out." She heard Madame Pomfrey coo next to her, and she could only obey.

"Hermione is that you? Is the ferret bothering you? We are coming in!" With a newfound rage inside of her, she grasped a vase from her bedside table despite Madame Pomfrey's cries of protest, and launched it at the door. Ron had to duck in order to miss it, and he stared at her incredulously. Draco and Blaise were watching the scene in front of them nervously.

"GET AWAY!" She screamed, her lungs boiling angrily. Her throat felt like it was being ripped raw, and collapsed back on the bed after a long exhausting shouting match.

"Leave Ronald. I don't want to deal with you right now." She grumbled, turning away from him in her bed. She didn't hate him, no matter how much she screamed that she did, and she believed that if she had opened up to her friends they probably would have comforted her with open arms. But it was too late, and now they were left confused in her wake. They were only trying to help her.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, and she shut her eyes.

"You too." She mumbled and she heard quiet shuffling and the door finally closed.

"Wow." Draco breathed, and Hermione could say she agreed. Wow.

Shifting in to a conflicted dream, she heard an ominous whisper in her ear.

_My Dark Mark itches._

Hermione paled. No, it can't be.

Certainly not. Certainly not Draco Malfoy.

AHH DO YOU LIKE IT? As always, the tenth reviewer gets the next chapter dedicated to them! And if I get a nice review I might just feature you at my end author's note ;) Read and Review, Rest and Relax. Enjoy! If you have any ideas PM me, that will get you a nice feature too! And if this story gets popular you can bet your asses that I'll definitely look at some story edits! My tumblr is vintage-weasley, follow me or tag me in an edit


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Authors note: This chapter is short of short, but its pretty detailed, next chapter is going to have a lot more detail and dram in it, I just don't want it to move to fast.

Hermione slapped her hand to her forehead and let out a moan. She could feel each and every thump of her heart pump through her head; she had never had a headache this bad. Shifting in to a sitting position she sloshed down a potion beside her bed, praying that it would dilute the pain she was feeling. It subsided a bit, but she could still hear her heart's whispered thoughts, perhaps they would never go away.  
"Oh good, Miss Granger; you are awake." Madame Pomfrey fluffed the pillow on the now vacant beds. Zabini and Malfoy left? She frowned.

"Mr. Zabini and Mr. Malfoy have left, something about not wanting to be the subject of your next tantrum?" Hermione scowled. Yes, that seemed like something Malfoy would say. In fact, Hermione could practically hear Draco Malfoy mumbling it with his mightier than though aloof expression, dragging Zabini out the door. She could practically see Zabini snorting with laughter.

Hermione thought about the freak accident that happened earlier. Hearing Draco Malfoy's thoughts? Perhaps, but Hermione Granger was a smart witch not to think that's all there was to it. Secrets, she had listened in on Draco Malfoy's secret, and she doubted he had told anyone. 'Dark Mark itches?' Hermione thought, very perturbed about the fact. Cursed scars, (or tattoos if you're rather enthusiastic) aren't supposed to itch, or burn, or do anything really. Unless..

"No!" Hermione shouted and Madame Pomfrey screamed in surprise. Before Hermione knew it, she was racing down the hallway, searching for two total twats. She turned a corner, hearing the unfamiliar sound of Draco Malfoy laughing, and she cringed. It was so unlike him, to have something pleasant spewing from his mouth. She knew as soon she stepped in to his line of sight that he would be going back to being an egotistical brat, and she scoffed.

"That's so like him to do. _Mudbloods_ aren't worth his pleasant attitude." She grumbled, stalking towards the back of them, brooding in the sight of the happy Slytherins. Grasping Malfoy's arm tightly, she turned him around. Malfoy opened his mouth no doubt about to make an indignant comment, but from the look on her face, he remained silent for a moment.

"Listen Malfoy, I'm not here to grovel at your feet in thanks. In fact, I would rather sit in a boiling hot cauldron than thank you." Draco raised an eyebrow and attempted to yank his arm from her grip. He didn't succeed. "I'm here to get an answer. Now tell me why your mark itches." She tried to yank up his sweater sleeve but he pried her fingers off of him, sending her a hard glare.

"What makes you think I'm going to give you an answer? You aren't an idiot, Granger. Although, you were never one for high-class etiquette. In fact, you were never one for middle-class etiquette, now that I think about it."

"Oh, that's real rich coming from you, king of racial slurs and scathing remarks! I don't give a damn and I'm not going to prance around the subject like a dainty deer. Now tell me, why does your scar itch!" Draco Malfoy stared at her for a moment with thick loathing apparent with his eyes, before her words sunk in.

"Scar?" he asked, turning around for an answer from Zabini, but he was gone. "Way to be a best friend." He grumbled, and growled in protest when she pushed his sleeve up.

"Hey! You can't do that!" He shouted but she ignored him, staring at the mark with morbid curiosity.

"Cursed marks only itch if the person who gave them it is alive-"

"Don't be daft Granger. Voldemort is about as dead as my father." Hermione wanted to wince at his tone, possibly feeling the slightest bit of remorse for him. She, of course, had known how it felt to lose a parent. Even if that parent was a Death Eater.

"Well then what else could it be? What are the other characteristics of the mark." she demanded, and Draco sneered.

"How the hell should I know? All I know is its evil." He looked down at her, and jerked his arm away. She took it back. "Like me."

"Evil. Hmmph." her eyebrows furrowed in thought. She knew Draco Malfoy was a bad person; she didn't really need a reminder.

_Then why did he save you_? A thought crossed her mind, and she frowned at him.

"You are allergic to being nice." Draco snorted, giving her a disgusted look. "No really! Right after you saved me-" Hermione cringed, but surged on, "It started to itch, right? Since its evil, I guess it's not used to you being nice. It reacted and started to itch." Hermione shrugged, and Draco clenched his jaw. He didn't care if he was a bad person. He really didn't. But she was staring at him with a slightly disgusted expression and it made Draco uncomfortable.

"It's really none of your business." He snapped, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Then explain to me why I heard that secret in my head." Oh, she really thought she had him beat. He smirked.

"You dolt. You think you are the only one who didn't hear any secrets?" He paused for dramatic effect, Hermione shuffled apprehensively. "Why so lonely Granger? Ronald not giving you the time of day?" Hermione visibly paled at him, and raised her horrified eyes to meet his.

"My life has nothing to do with yours." She said coldly, and Draco gave her a false smile, giving him the impression of a predatory wolf.

"Then promptly stay out of mine." He gave her one last hard glare, before strutting down the corridor. Hermione watched him go with a flushed face, and stomped her foot childishly. Hermione threw her fist at the wall, and then hissed at the sharp pain it brought. It had split open her knuckles.

"Come on Hermione. Get a grip. You don't need Ron's coddling, you don't need the pity glances from Harry, and you _definitely_ don't need Malfoy's conscience on you." Shoving the hand in to her robe pocket, she walked away.

* * *

"Bloody bint she is!" Draco sat down on a stool next to Blaise, who was snickering at him." Shut up!"

"What did she do? I left as soon as she grabbed your arm and started her rant." Blaise plopped his transfiguration book on the desk.

"Went off about my scar and how she knew it was itching or something." Blaise raised an eyebrow, and leaned back in his chair. "We continued to argue, and I won." Blaise only nodded and turned to the front of the classroom, right as Headmistress McGonagall walked in.

"This year isn't going to be normal." Draco gave him a weird look. _Damn right, I've got know-it-all's secrets all up in my brain.. _Of course, Draco wouldn't dream of telling anyone that.

"Mr. Malfoy, pay attention." Draco snapped his head to the front of the class to see Professor giving him a curious look, she looked almost unsure of herself. He could understand that. Bloody hell, he just saved some girl he hated from certain death.

"Since you don't feel like you need to pay attention, would you mind demonstrating how to transfigure yourself in to fire?" How vague could she be? A fire elemental? Fire itself, a shield of fire? Draco clenched his jaw and swaggered to the front of the classroom. He would have to guess with this one.

"_Ex me ad ignem."_ Red fire started to coil all around him, and Parvati Patil couldn't muffle the scream that shot from her mouth when it latched itself on to his arms. He could feel the energy crackle off of him, like an extension of his body, and he relished in the warmth that crawled its way through his veins.

"_Expecto Patronum._" People gasped in surprise when they saw a jet of fire shoot from his wand and coil in to a dragon, which flew around the room menacingly, searching for its prey. Draco Malfoy smirked at it, and pointed his wand to it.

"Finite Incantatum." He muttered, and the warmth melted away, leaving Draco Malfoy as cold as he was before, he wanted to shiver.

"All I wanted you to do was transfigure that groundhog in to fire. But thank you for the show of your efforts." Draco Malfoy scowled, and walked back to his seat.

* * *

Hermione couldn't help but stare. Draco Malfoy had just pulled one of the hardest spells in history and acted like nothing happened. He should be drained of power now. Dead! _A girl can dream._ Hermione thought, and sighed, resting her chin on the palm of her hand.

She closed her eyes, when she heard someone scream.

"_Maria!"_ She cracked her eyes open, and squinted around her. There was no Maria in this class, who could it be? She closed her eyes again, to see a little girl with dark black hair and the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen.

"_Drake, I want to play." _Hermione opened her eyes again, and frantically gripped the edge of the desk, catching herself before she fell off.

She understood now, what had just happened. Along with the secrets, comes flashbacks. Memories describing the secret.

_Draco Malfoy has a sister?_ Hermione glanced over at him again, to see he was doodling on the edge of his parchment, not really paying attention to the lesson. Hermione's stomach dropped quickly, a pang of anxiety washing over her. She sincerely worried that no harm was done to the girl, from being in the evil family. That Draco hadn't hurt her somehow.

Whether Hermione liked it or not, things got more serious than they ought to be.

Great. Just fucking great. When would this torture end?

**Heyyy guys! New chapter! Thank you TheEnd97 for your GREAT review! I hope to see more of you! As always, tenth reviewer gets a shoutout at the top of the story, I can't wait to dedicate the next chapter to you! Anyways, what do you think will happen? PM me for your questions or ideas and I might even incorporate one. READ AND REVIEW LOVELIES!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter Franchise :/**

Hermione was panicking. She had woken up late, and had to skip her shower and leave herself smelling like a veterinarian's office. She had placed a cleaning charm on her teeth, and decided a on quick scourgify to her body; it just left her body smelling like chemicals and her hair greasy.  
On top of that, she managed to snoop directly in to Draco Malfoy's life this time. Last time, she had goaded him in to an answer, but this time she had sent her owl to snatch any incoming mail that Malfoy was getting. _'Man, how stupid could I be?_' she thought to herself, stuffing the letter she had read in to her satchel.  
It had seemed relatively normal, surprisingly. She had expected something gruesome or as cruel as Malfoy. Perhaps written in blood? Or something as horribly cliché as green ink. She almost laughed at the thought. But what she found was something very warm. His mother had a dry sense of humor that Hermione could keep up with, and she almost smiled when she read little Maria's sloppy cursive that was dotted with hearts and smiley faces everywhere.  
Of course she was glad the girl was okay, that was actually her number one priority in the first place. Even so, she couldn't help but feel disappointed that she had no dirt to dish on Malfoy. Sighing and readjusting her bag, she surged forward, and whipped through the hallways until she reached an empty corridor. From there she wrenched open a window and called over Laila, her great gray owl, and pulled out the letter.  
"Reparo." she mumbled, directing her wand at the crumpled parchment, before rolling it back up and trying to mimic the Malfoy seal. "Give it back to his owl." she ordered, and the bird gave her a bored once-over before flying away. Hermione slumped against the wall and cradled her head in her hands. She hoped she could get through the rest of the day.

_

"Oi, Draco; you look like a hippogriff stomped all over you! Well one did, but that's not my point-"  
"Do shut up, mate." Draco grumbled, reaching across the table for a hardboiled egg, in which he cracked open and began to peel. Blaise raises an eyebrow at Draco's robotic expressions and leaned back in his seat.  
"So what's on your mind, mate? You obviously didn't get much sleep." Blaise asked, and Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair.  
"I stayed up all night waiting for my mom's stupid letter. She usually sends me one around one, which is when I usually go to sleep, but she didn't and I waited up for-" Draco trailed off and looked to the sky with a confused expression. His owl was flying over to him right now.  
"Azula?" He questioned, as the bird landed with an angry ruffle, sticking her leg out to Draco with disinterest. Draco shrugged off his pets odd behavior, and grasped the letter in his hand. Glancing wearily at the seal on the scroll, he realized it was wrong, and someone had resealed it. Draco stiffened.  
"Alright... what do you do next? Check the text for any spells." Draco unrolled the scroll and muttered a bunch of revealing spells, but nothing happened. He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and confusion, sniffing the parchment. It smelled like perfume, a faint freschia scent wafted in to Draco's nose and he cringed at it.  
"Is this some kind of sick joke Blaise?" Draco growled, and Blaise took the letter from his hands, scanning the evidence.  
" I didn't do this, and by the scent, it was a girl who did it." Draco grunted in approval, and began to think. What girl wasn't afraid to meddle with Draco's life to get answers?  
"Granger." Draco slammed his apple on to the table, and stalked out of the Great Hall, determined to confront her and set her straight. He caught her walking towards the Great Hall for some lunch, but he stood in her path, and blocked any further walking.  
"Who the hell do you think you are Granger?" He hissed, and she raised an eyebrow, and lifted her chin defiantly.  
"I don't know who you think you're talking to." Avoiding the answer? Draco wanted to scream.  
"Cut the bullshit! You're not some oblivious bint, you know what I'm talking about. You intercepted my mail." Draco watched her face falter in to a nervous and guilty one, before it scrunched up in to an ugly grimace.  
"Alright. I will admit I read through your mail. One of your stupid secrets bothered me and I had to see what your family life was like." Draco stepped back. A million thoughts were running through his mind. He thought about his mother, and her warm hugs she always gave. Her quick wit, her cooking. And then he thought about Maria. She loved to sing and dance around the manor, and her bubbly laughter could be heard from a mile away.  
"It was about my sister, wasn't it?" Silence. "You thought I would hurt a little girl? That my mother would hurt a little girl?" He clamped his mouth shut, fighting off the waves of rage that weren't subsiding.  
"Look, I'm sorry Malfoy, how was I supposed to know-"  
"Fuck Granger! You think you're so bloody better than everyone else! I'll have you know, my family is doing quite fine without you. Your heroics aren't needed here."  
"I never said I was better than everyone else! I was trying to help!" she cried out, and Draco gave her a nasty glare.  
"Stick to your own family." he spat out, and he stumbled when a vision flashed in front of his eyes.  
"What's wrong? Where are my parents?" Draco saw Granger's worried face, and cringed when he saw the Australian ministers face. It was filled with pity.  
"Miss Granger, I'm sorry. They had passed away in a death eater raid."  
Draco stared at Granger with horrified eyes, and she seemed to understand what he just witnessed. Watery tears brimmed her eyes and she blinked a few of them away, face flushed with embarrassment and sadness. Draco could feel his heart beating wildly, and he clutched the wall for support. His eyes still felt like they were looking through a tunnel, and Draco groaned. Why was he acting like this? What was happening?

"I'm sorry." Draco spluttered, and shimmied himself down to the ground. That was totally a first for Draco, apologizing. The funny thing was, he didn't even mean to, it sort of just slipped out. Closing his eyes, Draco heard Hermione shuffle next to him, with a firm clonk as she sat down next to him.

"Me too." Was all she said, and Draco opened his eyes. He watched as she curled herself in to tiny ball, and forced her head in between her knees.

"You know," Draco gulped, "My father died. I mean, it's not the same, I mean he was a death eater, and I hated him-" Draco jumped in surprise when a rich laughter interrupted him. He turned to see Hermione leaning against the wall for support, and she laughed wildly.

"You oaf, you don't have to comfort me." She said with mirth, and Draco scowled.

"Whatever." He snapped, standing up and dusting himself off. He wondered why he had even tried to comfort her in the first place. It was so unlike him to do so; a vulture doesn't coddle its dying prey, it pokes and prods it until it wins and the prey is nothing more than a carcass. He shifted his bag on to his shoulder, and Hermione scrambled up with him.

"Wait, whats wron-

"I don't need your emotional bull shit; in fact I would rather do without-

"Like I would tell you anything about my life-"

"Don't be daft, I don't go through peoples mail like it's my bloody job-"

"You're insufferable!" Hermione screeched with a last word, and Draco only rolled his eyes and sauntered down the hallway.

"Don't walk away you coward! I'm not done!" Her fists clenched at sides as she felt the threat of violence make it's self known. It smelled metallic and rusty, and she swayed as the scent mingled with a bloody aftertaste as she had clamped down so hard on her tongue it started bleeding. Draco had slowly turned around to watch her, and his eyes were like a storm. She watched as they clouded over with a deeper darkness and she actually took a step back when she saw his sneer.

"Coward?" He asked quietly, and Hermione knew she had done something absolutely, horrifically wrong. She should never have shot a low insult at him in an empty hallway, where he could hurt her. Where he could end her. Eerily aware of his mutilated forearm, she took a step back. Then two.

He continued to remain a safe distance away from her, and she was glad for that. She could feel his control leaking away in to the air, making it more tense and tense until Hermione thought he was going to strangle her with the air around them. Gasping for what little air was left, she watched him take one step forward, and then deflate. His tense and rigid figure slumped and only his head remained unrelaxed, as he continued to look at her. Still unreadable, his face still one blank expression.

"Listen here Granger, if you think I'm a coward because I won't go snooping in your life, you're as fucking dumb as rocks." Hermione winced, but held eye contact with a weary glare. "Going through all my mail to find your fucking sweet, heinous evidence, doesn't make you the heroine you've always wanted to be."

"What-"

"Shut up!" Hermione watched his fury come back full-fledged, and shut her mouth immediately, eyes wide with uneasiness. After a few minutes of silence, most of the anger in his eyes subsided. "You see, the difference between you and I, is that I don't give two shits about your parents. I'm not going to be snooping through your room, toddling around like some dolt to get information that's not mine and that's _private_. I'm not going to walk around, having your stupid secret nagging at my conscience until I go AWOL. Cause I don't care." Draco shouldered his satchel which had fallen halfway through his rant, and sent Hermione and mocking frown.

"You know, I almost feel sorry for you. You've got no one that cares, or even comes close to." Hermione could only watch him leave as a cloud of loneliness washed over her. Hermione could only defend herself with ill-comforting words that only seemed to make her more solemn as she stayed rooted to the spot. She had gathered that this school year, she had felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness every single day. Her own friends never truly paid attention to her like she did them, and she reasoned that with silly excuses explaining how boys weren't very keen on picking up emotion. _Malfoy was,_ her conscience berated, and she huffed a long sigh. In the past, whenever she was feeling left out, her parents would always send some thoughtful letter, and would feel wanted again, rejuvenated. Without their letter, or even them as a whole, Hermione had struggled day by day with making it through the school year.

And then suddenly, all too suddenly, she was wrapped up in a horrible problem. Of course, she always urged herself that it was the worst thing that was happening to her in the dark time of her life, but she knew that it really wasn't. Wrapped up with Malfoy in the crazy dilemma had brought back the fire within her. She had felt a part of something again, and even her conscience couldn't disagree.

Of course, now knowing that even in this she wasn't wanted, it hurt. Really bad. She had never really wanted the comfort of Draco Malfoy, but she wouldn't have denied it if it showed itself.

Feeling a sob crawling it's way up the back of her throat, she let out an undignified wheeze, and wiped away the salty drops hat had somehow escaped her eyes without her knowing. Hermione decided that it was probably better to rid herself of all her emotions, and she allowed a wave of indifference to wash over her, before clomping down the hallway after Malfoy, and in to Transfiguration.

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